Package of resilient material for fragile objects



Filed 001;. 27, 1964 Oct. 4, 1966 M ARTMA N mL 3,276,656

PACKAGE OF RESILIENT MATERIAL FOR FRAGILE OBJECTS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I NVEN TORJ Oct. 4, 1966 HARTMANN ETAL 3,276,656

PACKAGE OF RESILIENT MATERIAL FOR FRAGILE OBJECTS Filed Oct. 27, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 40 \l I 44 I I I i I 36 i8 10 I WW IzVEgTO/RS Oct. 4, 1966 HARTMANN ETAL 3,276,656

PACKAGE OF RESILIENT MATERIAL FOR FRAGILE OBJECTS Filed Oct. '27, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORJ United States Patent Ofiice 3,276,656 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 ,337 1 Claim. (Cl. 2292.5)

This invention relates to a package of resilient, e.g., fibrous material for fragile objects especially eggs, and of the type consisting of a lower portion and an upper portion, both of which are provided with marginal flanges abutting each other in the closed condition of the package.

The object of the invention is to indicate an appropriately designed and especially a strong locking device for such a package, said device releasably connecting the lower and upper portions, and being formed of a hookshaped projection on one portion, cooperating with an aperture or a recess in the other portion.

In the design of the locking device regard must be had to several factors. As the package is produced with the use of one or more moulds, the locking device as well as the other parts of the package must be releasable from the mould at the removal of the package therefrom, no special inserts or cores which have to be taken out in advance being necessary for this operation. Furthermore, even though the package is produced from a material so soft and loose as fibrous material, the locking device must possess sufficient strength to safely resist such influences as may occur, among other things to stand up to the lifting of the filled package by the grasping of the upper portion only.

These requirements are met by the package indicated by the invention, which is characteristic in that the projection, substantially in the form of part of a cylinder, protrudes from the bottom of a slot, which starts from the edge of the marginal flange on one portion, and that it has a preferably curved cross section corresponding to the shape of the said bottom, and that the projection is surmounted by a domed head, which adjoins the end of the cylindrical part as well as protrudes therefrom above the slot as a hook, and that the aperture, provided in the other portion of the package, and the edge of the marginal flange on said portion together define a rib of V-shaped section to form an inclined surface, which cooperates with an inclining part of the head at the closing of the package.

This special shape of the projection and the sectional shape of the locking rib contribute to produce increased strength.

If the lower portion of the package is designed with adjacent pockets for individual reception of the objects and with recessed depressions extending between the pockets, the locking projection is disposed according to the invention on the lower portion, and the slot is so positioned and shaped that substantially the wall of the projection constitutes a continuation of the walls of two adjacent pockets and the interjacent depression. By this means the connection between the projection and the lower portion is reinforced, and the projection is moved so far back in relation to the edge of the lower portion that its head does not protrude beyond the circumference of the lower portion. The latter feature is of special importance, when a number of packages is to be stacked in a container.

The invention will now be described in more detail, reference being had to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of an egg package according to the invention, in its open condition,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the same, in its closed condition,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the front part of the package, taken vertically on the line IIIIII of FIG. 2, with the package partially closed but the locking members still unengaged,

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG 3, with the package completely closed and the locking members engaging,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the part of the closed package which contains the locking members,

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lower portion of the package which contains the locking projection, and

FIG. 7 is an exploded front view, as seen obliquely from below, of the front part of the lower portion and the locking projection divided into two parts which are separated from one another, schematically represented.

The shown package has been produced by the precipitation or fibrous mass by suction through a mould having reticulated or perforated surface, whereby substantially the same thickness of material has been imparted to the package all over.

As will be seen in FIG. 1 the package is designed to receive six objects, preferably eggs, and it is provided with a single locking device. In the case of packages for a larger number of objects it is expedient to provide a plurality of locking devices.

The package consists of a lower portion 10 and an upper portion 12, which are contiguous along a folding line 14, which serves as a kind of hinge at the closing of the package. In the lower portion 10 there is provided a number of pockets 16, disposed in two rows at right angles to the folding line 14, three pockets in each row. Each pocket is designed to receive one end of an egg. Between each of two successive pockets 16 the material has been slightly recessed, so that as seen from the upper side of the lower portion depressions 18, and between four adjacent depressions an upstanding projection 20, are produced.

The upper portion of the package is shaped as a bowl with a side wall 22, which extends slightly obliquely with a view to the manufacture of the package. This side wall has a scalloped configuration, and it extends longitudinally of the rows as well as there between along the outermost sides of the eggs, not shown, and a small amount in between same, whereby the eggs are supported at their outwardly facing sides. The bottom 24 of the upper portion is plane. It should be noted that the said design of the upper portion 12 is not essential to the present invention. For instance, the upperportion might in addition have projections protruding from the bottom or other means to support the eggs at their innermost sides. Furthermore, it might have been provided with pockets in a manner similar to the one described in connection with the lower portion.

The lower portion 10 as well as the upper portion 12 are provided with peripheral marginal flanges 26 and 28, respectively. The said flanges abut against one another, when the package is closed around the eggs confined therein. At the edges of the upper portion and the lower portion, which are opposite to the folding line 14, there is provided a locking device consisting of a projection 30 on the lower portion and an aperture 32 in the upper portion. The design of this locking device will now be described in detail, especially with reference to FIGS. 3-7.

At the front edge of the lower portion there is provided a slot or an indentation 34 in the marginal flange 26. This slot is in alignment with the depression 18 between the two foremost pockets 16. A wall 36 starts from the preferably curved bottom of the slot 34, the cross section of which said wall has the same shape as the bottom of the slot 34, and therefore the wall may be described as part of a cylinder with curved cross section, see FIG. 7. The wall 36, which has an inclination suitable for removal from the mould, extends upwardly to the dot-anddash line 38 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. From this line the wall 36 is transformed into a domed head 49, which adjoins the said cylinder part as well as protrudes therefrom above the slot 34 as a hook, the downwardly facing plane surface 44 of which is parallel with the marginal flange 26 and suitably spaced therefrom, e.g. by twice the thickness of the flange. In the shown embodiment the head 40 is shape-d as a hollow spherical segment, so that a suitable width thereof is provided at the base, corresponding to the strength demanded of the locking device.

As may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the locking aperture 32 extends upwardly along the inclined wall 22 of the upper portion as well as along the marginal flange 28 so as to allow the head 40 to pass through said aperture. Together with the front edge of the marginal flange 28 the aperture 32 defines a rib 42 with V-shaped section, which said rib when the uppermost portion approaches the lowermost portion, FIG. 3, is somewhat to the rear of the foremost part of the head 40. When, at the closing of the package, the upper portion is pressed entirely down into contact with the lower portion, the rib 42 slides over an inclining surface of the head 40 and is thereby forced forwardly, until it has passed the foremost edge of the head, FIG. 4, whereupon the closing takes place automatically on account of the resiliency of the members involved, which takes place especially at the folding line 14.

When the locking members are in engagement, the upper portion cannot be lifted, unless it is pushed forward, until the rib 42 is released from the head 40. This movement is permitted by the resiliency, too.

The rib 42 is reinforced by its V-shape, since such a section is considerably stronger than a horizontal rectangular section, having the same thickness of material and the same area. The V-shaped cross-section also produces a curved inclining face at the inner side of the rib, whereby the engagement of the locking members by a pressure applied to the upper portion is facilitated.

In the shown embodiment the slot 34 has such a depth that the wall 36 rising from the bottom of the slot will be aligned with or form a continuation of the side walls of the two pockets 16 next thereto and of the interjacent depression 18, see FIGS. 3-6. As mentioned in the foregoing, a strong connection between the projection and the lower portion is thereby obtained, and the position of the projection will be most suitable, since it does not protrude beyond the circumference of the lower portion.

The invention is not restricted to the shown design of the locking projection. Especially, it should be noted that the term part of a cylinder is not to be understood as limiting the scope of to a cylinder with a circular generatrix. Furthermore, the domed head need not be shaped as a hollow spherical segment, but the term domed applies to any surface or wall, whose outer side is convex, and whose inner side is concave.

It will be seen from the drawings that the locking members are inclining and that their surfaces everywhere permit the removal of the members from a mould, whether it be a suction mould, a pressure mould or a casting mould.

What we claim is:

A package of resilient fibrous material for fragile objects comprising upper and lower portions having marginal flanges abutting each other when the package is in the closed condition, said lower portion being provided with a set of pockets for receiving the objects the walls of which define depressions having bottom and end walls respectively between adjacent pockets, an indentation in the marginal flange of the lower portion forming an open gap located between two adjacent pockets and extending inwardly from the outer edge of said flange tothe adjacent end wall of the depression between said two pockets, a locking projection extending upwardly from the inner portion of said gap and defined by a support 'wall for said locking projection substantially semi-circular in crosssection constituting upward continuations of the adjacent side walls of said two pockets and the upwardly-extending end wall of said depression adjacent to the inner part of said gap, said support wall being continuations of and flush with said adjacent walls and said end wall, a domeshaped head at the top of the wall of said projection having a portion located above and extending out over said flange gap, the upper portion of said package having a locking aperture located partly in its marginal flange and partly in its adjacent side wall between the pockets for receiving said dome-shaped head when the package is in a closed condition, the outwardly-extending portion of the head overlying the outer part of the flange of the upper portion of the package along said aperture and thereby locking said upper and lower portions together, said locking aperture having a width suflicient to allow the domeshaped head to be pushed backwards as a whole when opening the package, said flange in the upper portion of the package being substantially in the form of a V-sectional rib presenting an inclined surface for sliding engagement with the outer surface of the dome-shaped head during the closing of said package.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,873,057 2/1959 Friday 229-2.5 2,974,842 3/1961 Reifers 2292.5 3,099,377 7/ 196 3 Metzler et al 2292.5 3,164,478 1/1965 Bostrom 2291.5 X

FOREIGN PATENTS 225,262 10/ 1959 Australia.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Prim-aryExaminer.

D. T. MOORHEAD, Assistant Examiner, 

